Morocco got the job done in Boston. Scotland’s Tartan Army won everything else.
Morocco didn’t dazzle. It didn’t need to.
In the teams’ second match of the 2026 World Cup on Friday, a 1-0 win over Scotland at Boston Stadium — settled inside 71 seconds and fiercely defended afterward — moved Mohamed Ouahbi’s side to the top of Group C. This left Scotland in third place with a match against Brazil up next on Wednesday.
Here are my takeaways:
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This wasn’t the swaggering Morocco that bullied Brazil for 45 minutes last week. This was the other kind of good team — the kind that scores early, rides its luck and refuses to break.
The Atlas Lions blitzed Scotland from the whistle, then spent the second half inviting pressure they had no need to invite. Yassine Bounou was barely worked, but the back line creaked, the lead never felt safe, and a sharper Scotland might have made Morocco pay.
It didn’t. And that’s the point.
One point ahead of Scotland, Morocco tops the group with the knockout stage math firmly in its own hands — all under a rookie coach at his first senior tournament. Ugly wins are still wins. The successful sides learn to love them.
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Steve Clarke rolled the dice — Kieran Tierney, Nathan Patterson and Ryan Christie all put in, Che Adams left alone up top, Scott McTominay and Lewis Ferguson were tasked with holding the midfield — and watched that midfield cave anyway.
That’s the story of the match. Morocco’s Neil El Aynaoui and Ayyoub Bouaddi were tough to beat in the center, Ounahi drifted into the gaps, and Scotland was outnumbered, out-passed and pinned back. The 71-second gut-punch didn’t help, but the deeper problem was the control they never had.
They were braver after the break — and they’ll rue the moment that came with it. Scott McGinn tumbled under El Aynaoui’s challenge in the box. With the Tartan Army howling, the referee and VAR decided not to award a foul. A penalty there, and it’s a different night. Fine margins. Scotland ended up on the wrong side of all of them.
The dream remains intact thanks to that narrow 1-0 win over Haiti, but the stiffest test now awaits in Miami against Brazil.
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